Ralph Yarl: Protesters Call for Charges After Kansas City Teen Shot in Head

16-year-old Ralph Yarl, a Kansas City, MO Black teen, has returned home with his family after being shot twice by a homeowner after ringing the wrong doorbell, according to his family, reports the Kansas City Star.

On April 13th, Yarl went to pick up his younger twin siblings from a friend’s house and accidentally mixed up the street names (he went to 115th Street instead of 115th Terrace). After mistakenly ringing the bellknocking on the door of the unnamed man’s bell, the man shot Yarl once in the head, then again after he fell down, according to Yarl’s family. CNN reports that the homeowner is a white man in his 80s, based on property records and police statements they reviewed.

After knocking three more doors seeking help (according to his family and as reported by the Star), Yarl was hospitalized with two gunshot wounds. According to The New York Times, the shooter was released 24 hours after being taken into custody, the maximum holding time without charges in a felony investigation. Police told the media the case was still under investigation, and the police chief told the media there was a potential “stand your ground” element under examination; such laws have been used as justification in killings of Black people in multiple noteworthy cases over the last several years.

In the wake of the shooting, hundreds protested in Kansas City over the weekend, demanding police file charges against the shooter. Protesters, including some of Yarl’s teachers and classmates, expressed outrage over the shooting, eventually marching to the home where Yarl was shot to peacefully protest. 

“Justice is the key. I guess the same reason why most people are here. Justice. Peace. I’m with them. I don’t want anything special. I just want justice,” Yarl’s father Paul told the Kansas City Star, when asked what he wanted from the protests. A GoFundMe launched on April 16th by Ralph’s aunt Faith Spoonmore is currently at over $1.6 million in donations; it notes that Ralph is a passionate musician and student with hopes of college.

At the same time as people took to the streets in Kansas City, celebrities like Kerry Washington and Halle Berry encouraged those following the story nationwide to contact the local prosecutor to push for appropriate charges against the shooter. Others connected the shooting to the death of 19-year-old Renisha McBride, who was shot and killed after knocking on a stranger’s door seeking help after a car accident in November 2013. (The shooter was sentenced to 17 years in prison in 2014; he was resentenced last summer to 15-30 years with credit for time served.)

“Tonight, millions of Black parents across America are going to have ‘The Talk’ again, this time adding another item to the list: don’t ring the wrong doorbell,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement about the Yarl shooting. “We are angry. We need justice. We need accountability. Our hearts are with 16-year-old Ralph Yarl and his family.”

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